Embarking on the Adventure of a Lifetime

Month: April 2017

The Month of March has been a relatively quiet month on the tundra. The snow storms of January and February have calmed and for many weeks the sun has been out and brightly shining. While the temperatures had dipped into the negative double digits on most nights, during the day we saw them inch up to the positive double digits as well. The return of the sun is noticeable as the days grow longer and longer. The end of the month brings us over 13 hours of light with sunrise happening around 8:25 am and sunset holding off until 9:37 pm. It is an amazing place to experience life!

Icy Boardwalks

While things are warming a little we still have most of the snow from the previous storms. During this month, the most frequented paths have become more and more compressed. The positive part about this is we can take longer walks on paths that were not available to us during the spring months as we can literally walk on water – you know, the frozen kind. The drawback to this is a lot of the boardwalks have layers of compressed ice and snow and it has become treacherous to walk on them without snow cleats. The kids seem to enjoy the challenge as we often find them skating down the boardwalks – some in skates and some in their normal winter shoes. It’s fun to hear them call out, “Look-Watch! Mrs. and Mr. Sweet! We’re skating!”

Isabella’s Snow Mask

With all the sunshine and the longer days we have been lulled into a false sense that Spring was on its way, but Mother Nature had different plans. On March 31st, a new winter storm blew in. After just 24 hours, we have new snow drifts 4-5 feet high and it is still snowing. It looks like Punxsutawney Phil was a little off on his forecast of 6 more weeks of winter, at least for Kipnuk, as it looks like we will be keeping our snow and ice until the beginning of May. I guess we could use our own local celebrity to forecast our winters for us. Our options are rather limited as, during the winter, the only animals we have present are a couple of weasels, some mice, the village dogs, our raven clan, and the foxes that get everyone stirred up when they decide to take a stroll through the village. We have seen the signs of their presence, but so far, I have only seen one running from a snow machine as it was headed to the church (the snow machine — not the fox). None of these creatures are stepping up to help us figure out the true weather plans this year.

An interesting Yup’ik story about predicting Spring goes like this. When you see the Ptarmigan coming back from the hills, then Spring is almost here — they know when there won’t be anymore snow. When the cranes come then you KNOW for sure Spring is here.

First Boardwalk Bridge to Cemetery

Final Boardwalk Bridge to Cemetery

One of the other favorite past times of the children in the village is to climb on the railings and do flips into the snowbanks that build up. With all the fresh snow, I am sure we will begin seeing the body prints from their adventures. They also like to build tunnels through the snow. One of the many things they have taught me during our stay here is how to get out of those deep drifts if you happen to wander into them. Often you are too deep to just back up and out, so you have to sit down and roll out. It isn’t a graceful process, but it works and it keeps you from having to stand around freezing while someone digs you out!

Snow Drifts After First Day

Snow Drifts To Play In

Other activities in March included a quick trip that Kim took to Kongiganak to visit their school. She got to meet many different people who were related to folks in Kipnuk and meet lots of other LKSD teachers. All the villages across the Lower Yukon Delta, while separated by many miles, are connected by many relations. Greg got to experience his first Maqii (a Yup’ik Sauna) and enjoyed the experience greatly. This is a very efficient way to keep clean with a minimum amount of water.

Speaking of water, as the winter has worn on and renewed it’s commitment, our water concerns are growing. People in the village have ample access to ice, however we are down to only about 7 feet in our reservoir for the school. Really, now. Spring cannot come soon enough.

Finally, Kim spent a day learning how to make fur mittens from one of the elders in the village. It was an amazing day filled with stories about family in different places and how things were in different times. Each piece of fur had a story attached to it and while Kim sewed mittens, the elder wove her basket. Food served included dried fish, caribou/walrus soup, and fry bread. Delicious.